file for Italian citizenship based on marriage to an Italian citizen (minimum requirement: level B1)

request a long term residence permit for Italy (minimum requirement: level A2)

enroll in Italian universities without sitting an entry exam (levels B2, C1 or C2, depending on the university and faculty requirements)

show proof of your level of knowledge of the Italian language on your curriculum vitae.

Who Can Register?

PLIDA Certification is designed for people whose mother tongue is not Italian.

PLIDA exams are open to all those who want to assess their linguistic skills in Italian and obtain an official certificate. Candidates can choose to challenge the level that they believe most closely matches their skill level; it is not necessary to have taken examinations at lower levels in order to enroll for a given level. Examinations can be taken during the same session for more than one level.

Examinations are open to all; however, it is advisable to contact the school office in advance for information regarding preparation for the examination.

The PLIDA Certification Test is designed to test candidates' skills in four areas: Ascoltare (Listening), Leggere (Reading), Parlare (Speaking) and Scrivere (Writing). The time schedule depends on the level of the test.

The overall duration of the examination ranges from a minimum of 100 minutes to a maximum of 190 minutes for the highest exam.

Certification Tests are scheduled twice a year and take place on predetermined dates which apply to all Certification Centers all over the world, and are subject to a minimum enrollment.

ORIENTATION CLASSES are organized and scheduled in preparation for the PLIDA Certification Tests.

Passing the examination, marksFor each skill, marks are expressed in terms of a maximum of 30.

To be successful at the examination, the candidate must obtain a pass mark (minimum 18/30) in each of the four skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing). The minimum overall score for a pass in the examination is therefore 72/120, while the maximum possible score is 120/120.

A candidate who obtains a pass mark in at least one of the four skills obtains a credit in that area. This credit will remain valid for the next two examination sessions, thus eliminating the need to redo that component. A credit in the skill passed can be used in one of the next two sessions to take just the test that had not previously been passed.

Examination results and certificate issue

Examination papers are sent from the various Certification Centres to the Central Offices in Rome, where they are marked and evaluated within sixty days from the date of receipt.

The Central Office sends Certificates for all the candidates who pass the examination.The Certificate indicates the candidate’s details, the level, the marks obtained in the

four language skills, and the overall mark.

Candidates personal data are used solely for certificate issue, and these data will not

be published in any form in accordance with Italian privacy legislation (law 675/96).

PLIDA Certification – Test your Italian!

PLIDA - Progetto Lingua Italiana Dante Alighieri

PLIDA Certification Tests are designed by the scientific team of the Dante Alighieri Society and assess Italian as a foreign or second language. Every year thousands of candidates throughout the world test their language competence and obtain the PLIDA Certificate, which is recognized by the Italian Government and accepted globally.

PLIDA Certification evaluates skills in Italian as a foreign language according to a six-tier scale, from A1 to C2 in ascending order of difficulty, corresponding to the levels established by the European Council (Modern languages division: cf. Quadro comune europeo di riferimento per le lingue: apprendimento, insegnamento, valutazione – Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, evaluation, published in Milan by La Nuova Italia – Oxford, 2002).